Andrew Q. Gordon

Growing up in blended families meant I didn’t have the traditional family holiday. It’s only gotten worse as we grew and married. Through all the travel to attend the 4-5 Christmas ‘present events’ we go to each year, finding the time to do fun things together with two kids can be a challenge. We have a few rituals that we always do together but the hustle and bustle can get the better of us.

There are 2 we never, ever fail to do. Bundled up in boots and warm, waterproof coats, armed with cocoa… we brave the elements to find the perfect family tree. No rain, mud, sleet, snow, or this year’s holy crap my face is frozen wind chill keeps us from exploring a local tree farm to find just the right one. My favorite tradition involves heat, though.

From the first year my daughter was 10 months old and sitting in her high chair playing with cookie cutters, we’ve baked Santa fresh, homemade sugar cookies every year on Christmas Eve. It doesn’t matter where we are, I haul along the ingredients and schedule in a few hours for the kids and me to shape, bake, and decorate. We have a special plate and mug too. After the kids decorate two dozen cookies into iced, sugared, and sprinkled ‘masterpieces’ they each pick a cookie and put it on Santa’s plate. Daddy doesn’t get in on the baking tradition, other than as an admirer, as far as they knew… until last year.

My then 6 year old decided Santa didn’t exist last year, and his logic was unassailable. Daddy was exposed as the cookie gobbler! Thus began the beginning of the end as the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy were quickly debunked as well. Growing up pauses for no Mom!

It is a little sad to see the innocence of the season lost to my kids at only 7 and 9. But we have the crisp air, cocoa, caroling, and we even still have cookie making. Santa might not be the one eating their cookies, but I was informed we had to make them anyway, because it’s our thing. And so I’m grateful that for now—they’re not ‘too cool for you’ teens yet—my kids still anticipate and enjoy my favorite tradition too.

Author Bio:

Alicia Nordwell is one of those not so rare creatures, a reader turned writer. Striving to find something interesting to read one day, she decided to write what she wanted instead. Then the voices started … Yep, not only does she talk about herself in the third person for bios, she has voices in her head constantly clamoring to get out.

Fortunately for readers, with the encouragement of her family and friends, she decided for her own sanity to keep writing. Now you can find her stories both free and e-published! Oh yeah, she’s a wife, mom of two, and lives in the dreary, yet ideal for her redhead complexion, Pacific Northwest. Except for when she disappears into one of the many worlds in her head, of course!

She can also be found quite often at her blog, where she has a lot of free fiction for readers to enjoy or working hard, or maybe hardly working, as an admin on GayAuthors.org under her online nickname, Cia.

Author Links:

Blog: http://www.ciasstories.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ciasstories

Twitter: @AliciaNordwell

Email: anordwell@live.com